ILLINOIS WOMEN'S NOTES.

Good As She Is, Tamika Catchings Still A Work In Progress

December 13, 1997|By Alan Sutton, Tribune Staff Writer.

KNOXVILLE — Tamika Catchings may be Tennessee's second leading scorer, one of the three "Amikas," as dubbed by Sports Illustrated, and a member of the gold medal-winning U.S. Women's Junior National team.

But the 6-foot-1-inch freshman still has a lot of work to do, Lady Vols assistant Al Brown said.

After Thursday's practice, he spent another 20 minutes on the court with the former Illinois Ms. Basketball to work on her perimeter shooting.

"She's a sponge, she loves to learn," said Brown, the former men's head coach at Ball State.

He especially wants Catchings to work on her on-the-ball defense.

All Lady Vols coach Pat Summitt would want from Catchings would be performances like the one she put on in the team's practice--against a group of male players selected by Summitt. One might say she'd like the team to attend finishing school.

"We all need to take a lesson from Tamika and Chamique (Holdsclaw)," Summitt said. "They're finishers."

Highs and lows: Illinois coach Theresa Grentz could only shake her head when weighing Wednesday's 77-62 loss to always-tough-to-play-at Southwest Missouri State. The Illini managed a season-high 29 offensive rebounds, but shot a season-low 34 percent in the Bears' upset victory.